A Compassionate Response to the Terrible Suffering in Gaza
I have been watching the heartbreaking situation in Gaza worsen with an increasing sense of shock. This cannot go on. Thousands of babies and children are at risk of starvation. We cannot sit back and watch this unfold, feeling powerless to stop the genocide.
I say this as a Jewish person, who understands the generational trauma driving those who commit these unspeakable acts. My great-grandparents fled the pogroms in Russia, finding sanctuary in East London. My grandparents worked for the Jewish Board of Guardians, helping those flee the Nazis to settle here. When people are scared – as Jews rightly are, given thousands of years of persecution – they will do awful things to protect themselves. We see this in war zones around the world, not just in Gaza and the West Bank.
But this is a reason, not an excuse. What happened to the Israeli people on 7th October 2023, unspeakably awful and heartbreaking as it was, is not an excuse to punish millions of innocent civilians. Above all, we must channel our outrage into compassionate action. Not with hate, but fierce love and determination. Because we all have power – something the Trumps, Putins and Netanyahus of this world hope we do not realise. A good example is our power to boycott corporations, which can hurt their profits, forcing big companies to change for the better. We have seen this with the hugely successful Tesla Takedown campaign, which has led to a 71% drop in Tesla’s profits because of Elon Musk’s far-right politics and all-out assault on vital US federal government agencies and services.
In Israel, many people share the world’s outrage and are protesting daily, calling for an end to this senseless war. A recent survey found that 61% of Israelis are demanding an end to the war and return of all remaining hostages. It’s important to make that distinction, because this war is not in the name of all Israelis, but is being driven by a corrupt far-right politician, who sees never-ending conflict as his best chance of staying out of jail.
So, we respond with anger, but never with hate, or demonisation of one people or another. I encourage you to write to your elected leaders and demand they take action. In my country, the best way to do that is to write to your MP or the foreign secretary, David Lammy. In the US, here is an easy tool to help you call your elected representative. Tell them how you feel about the dreadful situation in Gaza – and make it clear they will lose your vote if they do not press their leaders to act.
We also respond with heartfelt generosity, giving what we can to those organisations on the ground in Gaza, providing urgently needed food, water, shelter and medical assistance. Here are three amazing organisations who need our financial support right now:
• World Central Kitchen: wck.org
• Medecins Sans Frontiere: msf.org
• UN World Food Programme: wfp.org
You can also donate by clicking the button below. Thank you for reading this and I hope you will join me in doing what we can to help the desperate people in Gaza survive – and eventually thrive in a homeland of their own. Side by side with the Israeli people – who also deserve to live in peace – not locked in a state of never-ending conflict.
Love,
Dan ❤️